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RIDGELY – After over a week of below-freezing temperatures and icy roadways, Ridgely’s Department of Operations Director David Crist said he would rather have a salt-spreader and never use it than weather a similar storm in the future without one.
At the February 2 Town Commission Meeting, Crist clarified that Ridgely does not currently have the equipment to spread salt. Even if it did, Crist said that the salt used to deter ice on roadways “stops at 15 degrees”, making it useless considering some of the recent temperatures that the Eastern Shore has experienced. “This snow storm slash ice storm was a lot different than the other storms we’ve dealt with,” he said.
“I do have a quote in front of me right now to get a drop box to go on one of the back of the pick-ups. It’s $6,013,” Crist said. He expressed that there would be several concerns with the town spreading salt, such as damaging roads, driveways, street-parked cars, trees, and the Ridgely town vehicles used to spread the salt. There is also the question of salt availability, and the inability to store bulk amounts of salt in the humid Ridgely summers without a climate-controlled space.
With an estimated cost of salt, Crist said “for a $9,000 start-up, so to speak, if we can find the salt, it’s doable.”
Commissioner John Hurley cautioned against reacting to such an “unusual storm.” “My concern is deterioration of the streets,” he said, echoing other issues Crist had brought up, “I don’t really know if we need to do this because of this one-time deal.”
“I don’t think it would hurt to have a salt spreader,” said Commissioner Chad Leister, “if we had a hopper, it’s not going to go bad.” Crist agreed, saying, “I’d rather have it and it collect dust…than not have it when something like this happens.”
After more discussion about how much salt could possibly be needed and the timing of salting the roads in a future winter weather event, the commission voted unanimously in favor of using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to purchase the salt and spreader. For Crist, it’s a “peace of mind.”
